Gotemba
A special Japanese-movie location

Akira Kurosawa’s “The Hidden Fortress,” filmed in Gotemba City, inspired the scene of C-3PO and R2-D2’s wandering in the desert in “Star Wars”.

Gotemba City, Shizuoka Prefecture, has a 100-year history of filming location.
Making use of geographic advantage of a vast plain at the foot of Mt. Fuji and of easy access from Tokyo (only 100km), Gotemba City has become the movie location site of a lot of films.

Some of the popular movie scenes are found in a series of Director Akira Kurosawa’s movies, in which samurai gallops on the horses.
Among all of his 30 movies, this worldwide great master produced 10 movies in Gotemba City, such as “Seven Samurai,” “Throne of Blood,” “The Hidden Fortress,” “Kagemusha,” and “Ran.”

Another world-famous movie scenes, including the battle of the Self-Defense Forces (Japanese Army) with their tanks in “the Godzilla” series and the pilgrimage of Sun Wukong’s party in the wilderness in the TV show series of “Journey to the West,” were filmed in Gotemba City.

Gotemba City features Mt. Fuji and its surrounding nature, Japanese traditional farming villages as well as the urban areas. That is why more than 50 movies , TV dramas and shows , TV commercials, music videos and Internet videos are currently produced in this city every year.

Moreover, the overseas film crews often visit Gotemba City to make the video from the site near Japanese iconic Mt. Fuji. They choose Gotemba because of the easy access to Tokyo.

Gotemba City welcomes the film shooting in this city and offers the comprehensive location filming support in cooperation with the private sectors.

Contact us for more information of filming location in Gotemba City:
NPO Gotemba Film Network
mail@gotembafilm.net